The
is a
VedicThe religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit. The religious practices centered on a clergy administering rites that often involved sacrifices...
religious text dedicated to the
deityA deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh and also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most widely worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
. It is a late
UpanishadThe Upanishads are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. They do not belong to any particular period of Sanskrit literature: the oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, date to the late Brahmana period , while the latest were composed in...
that celebrates Ganesha as the embodiment of the ultimate Brahman. The text asserts its own status as an upanishad in its final line, which reads "Thus, the " (
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
:; ).
It is also referred to as the
Sri Ganapati Atharva Sirsha, the
Ganapati Atharvashirsha, the
Ganapati Atharvasirsa, or the
Ganapati Upanishad.
It is the most widely-recited Sanskrit text among devotees of Ganesha in Maharashtra. The entire text is written over the entrance to the temple hall in the
{{Hindu scriptures}}
The {{IAST|Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa}} is a VedicThe religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit. The religious practices centered on a clergy administering rites that often involved sacrifices...
religious text dedicated to the
deityA deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh and also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most widely worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
({{IAST|Gaṇeśa}}). It is a late
UpanishadThe Upanishads are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. They do not belong to any particular period of Sanskrit literature: the oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, date to the late Brahmana period , while the latest were composed in...
that celebrates Ganesha as the embodiment of the ultimate Brahman. The text asserts its own status as an upanishad in its final line, which reads "Thus, the {{IAST|Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa Upanishad}}" (
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
:{{lang|sa|श्रीगणपत्यथर्वशीर्षोपनिषद्}}; {{IAST|śrīgaṇapatyatharvaśīrṣopaniṣad}}).
It is also referred to as the
Sri Ganapati Atharva Sirsha, the
Ganapati Atharvashirsha, the
Ganapati Atharvasirsa, or the
Ganapati Upanishad.
It is the most widely-recited Sanskrit text among devotees of Ganesha in Maharashtra. The entire text is written over the entrance to the temple hall in the
{{Hindu scriptures}}
The {{IAST|Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa}} is a VedicThe religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit. The religious practices centered on a clergy administering rites that often involved sacrifices...
religious text dedicated to the
deityA deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh and also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most widely worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
({{IAST|Gaṇeśa}}). It is a late
UpanishadThe Upanishads are Hindu scriptures that constitute the core teachings of Vedanta. They do not belong to any particular period of Sanskrit literature: the oldest, such as the Brhadaranyaka and Chandogya Upanishads, date to the late Brahmana period , while the latest were composed in...
that celebrates Ganesha as the embodiment of the ultimate Brahman. The text asserts its own status as an upanishad in its final line, which reads "Thus, the {{IAST|Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa Upanishad}}" (
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
:{{lang|sa|श्रीगणपत्यथर्वशीर्षोपनिषद्}}; {{IAST|śrīgaṇapatyatharvaśīrṣopaniṣad}}).
It is also referred to as the
Sri Ganapati Atharva Sirsha, the
Ganapati Atharvashirsha, the
Ganapati Atharvasirsa, or the
Ganapati Upanishad.
It is the most widely-recited Sanskrit text among devotees of Ganesha in Maharashtra. The entire text is written over the entrance to the temple hall in the
{{IASTAshtavinayaka literally means "eight Ganeshas" in Sanskrit. Ganesha is the Hindu deity of prosperity and learning. The term refers to a pilgrimage to the eight Hindu temples in Maharashtra state of India that house eight distinct idols of Ganesha, in a pre-ascertained sequence.The Ashtavinayaka...
Ganesha shrine at Ranjangaon.
Dating
There is some dispute regarding the dating of the text. Courtright reviews various views and concludes that it was probably composed during the sixteenth or seventeenth centuried A.D. It was mentioned by {{IAST|Śrī Upaniṣad Brahma Yogin}} in his commentary on 108 upanishads in 1751. Ghurye notes its emergence in the early nineteenth century, corresponding to the rise of the Ganapati worship in Maharashtra among Brahmins centered in Pune.
Internally the text asserts that it traces its own lineage to the Atharva Veda in a passage that
ChinmayanandaH.H. Swami Chinmayananda was born Balakrishna Menon in Ernakulam, Kerala in a devout Hindu noble family called "Poothampalli". Upon his birth, his father called for an astrologer, who stated that Balan's birth was an auspicious one, and that he was destined to be a king...
translates as "Thus says Atharvana" (
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
:{{lang|sa|इत्यथर्वणवाक्यम्}}; {{IAST|ityatharṇavākyam}}). Courtright translates the verse as "This text was told by the Atharvan sage." Chinmayananda comments on this claim of lineage saying that "it may or may not be so", noting that such an attribution of authorship is not found in the body of many of the upanishads.
Textual variants
As is common with devotional works of this type, variations in the text are often found in manuscripts, which may differ from one another in significant ways. Many of the published works on the Ganapati Atharvashirsa use variant versions of the text, showing differences in content and line numbering, so it is necessary to review multiple editions.
A "critical edition" of a Hindu scripture is a special type of scholarly edition in which many alternative readings from variant manuscripts have been reviewed and reconciled by scholars to produce a consensus text. A critical edition examining variants of the Sanskrit text was published in 1984 by Gudrun Bühnemann with a translation.
A heavily-edited and abbreviated translation was done in the early nineteenth century by Vans Kennedy.
J. R. Sartha published a 1969 edition. In 1985 Courtright published an English translation based on the Sartha edition.
Swami Chinmayananda published a variant of the Sanskrit text with an English translation in 1987. In his version of the source text he groups verses together to form sections that he calls
upamantras. He notes that as a result of this his line numbering and versification may differ from those given in other variants.
John Grimes provides a structural analysis including a version of the Sanskrit text and an English translation in his 1995 book on Ganapati. His version provides no line numbers.
The text is sometimes found on the Internet in the form of downloadable files or on web sites, but in such cases the reliability and versification of the variants cannot be determined.
Ganesha as the Supreme Deity
In the framework of
GanapatyaGanapatya is a denomination of Hinduism that worships Ganesha as the Saguna Brahman.The worship of Ganesha is considered complementary with the worship of other deities. Hindus of all sects begin prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies with an invocation of Ganesha...
devotion, Ganesha is regarded as the Supreme Deity, containing all other divine forms within himself. The Ganapati Atharvashirsa declares this in its opening passages as translated by Courtright:
Homage to Lord {{IAST|Gaṇeśa}}. {{IAST|Oṃ}}. Reverence to {{IAST|Gaṇapati}}. You are indeed the visible "That Thou Art" [tattvamasi]. You indeed produce the universe. You indeed sustain it. You indeed destroy it. You indeed are the all pervading reality. You are the manifestation of the eternal self [ātman].
A variant version of this passage is translated by Chinmayananda as follows:
(O Lord Ganapati!) You alone are the visible manifestation of the Essence of the words "That thou art". You alone are the Doer. You alone are the Creator and the Sustainer (of the universe). You alone are the Destroyer. Verily You alone are all this - "idam sarvam" - in the creation, because You are Brahman. Your are the Eternal Atman in bodily form."
Identification of Ganapati with other deities and with OM
Ganesha is identifiable with all other deities and with Om. This is celebrated as follows in the Courtright translation:
You are Brahmā, Vişņu, and Rudra [Śiva]. You are Agni, Vāyu, and Sūrya. Your are Chandrama. You are earth, space, and heaven. Yor are the manifestation of the mantra "{{IAST|Oṃ}}".
A variant version of this passage is translated by Chinmayananda as follows:
(O Lord Ganapati!) You are (the Trinity) Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa. You are Indra. You are fire and air. You are the sun and the moon. You are Brahman. You are (the three worlds) Bhuloka, Antariksha-loka, and Swargaloka. You are Om. (that is to say, You are all this).
Ganapati resides in the Muladhara chakra
Some evidence that the work is of late origin with some Tantric influence is found in a passage which associates Ganapati with the Muladhara chakra. As translated by Courtright this passage reads:
You continually dwell in the sacral plexus at the base of the spine [{{IAST|mūlādhāra cakra}}].
A variant version of this passage is translated by Chinmayananda as follows:
You have a permanent abode (in every being) at the place called "Muladhara".
Ganapati's bija mantra
This text provides a detailed description of Ganesha's
bija mantraFor secular and business interpretation, see Motto.A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that are considered capable of "creating transformation"...
{{IAST|gaṃ}} (
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
:{{lang|sa|गं}}; {{IAST|gaṃ}}). When this mantra is written using simplified transliteration methods that do include diacritical marks to represent nasal sounds, it is written as "gam".
This
bija mantra is also used in the
Ganesha PuranaThe Ganesha Purana is a Hindu religious text dedicated to the Hindu deity Ganesha . It is an that includes many stories and ritualistic elements relating to Ganesha. The Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana are core scriptures for devotees of Ganesha, known as Ganapatyas...
which is generally dated as preceding the Ganapati Atharvasirsa. Courtright translates the passage as follows:
Having uttered the first letter of the word {{IAST|gaṇa}}, ga, then I utter the nasal sound {{IAST|ṇa}} which follows and appears beautifully like the crescent moon. This is your form. The ga forms the initial letter, the a forms the middle letter and the {{IAST|ṇa}} forms the final letter. To utter this sound [i.e., {{IAST|gaṃ}}] is to utter all sounds together.
A variant version of this passage is translated by Chinmayananda as follows, using
DevanāgarīDevanagari , also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together. Devanāgarī is the main script used to...
to make the description more clear for those who are familiar with Sanskrit:
One should first utter the first syllable "ग" in the word "गण" followed by "अ" the first of the alphabets. Add an अनुस्वार (a nasal म् indicated by a dot above the line). Then adorn it by a crescent (also a nasal). Prefix ॐ to it. And this represents (O Lord Ganapati!) your terrestrial form endowed with gunas.
Further reading
- Swami Chinmayananda. Glory of Ganesha. (Central Chinmaya Mission Trust: Bombay, 1987). pp. 121-131. Other reprint editions: 1991, 1995.
- Courtright, Paul B. {{IAST|Gaṇeśa}}: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings. Appendix: "The {{IAST|Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa}}". (Oxford University Press: New York, 1985) ISBN 0-19-505742-2
- Grimes, John A. Ganapati: Song of the Self. (State University of New York Press: Albany, 1995) ISBN 0-7914-2440-5
- An English Translation Of the Ganapati Upanishad
- P.K Virkar, Y.S Kulkarni. Stories of Ganesha. (Anmol Prakashan: Pune 2002) pp. 104-123
{{Ganesha}}